HEADING FOR SUMMER... and whatever it brings (Part 160a)

HEADING FOR SUMMER… and whatever it brings (Part 160a)

My fear of a second Monday was right on the money. It was unusually busy and, as it turned out, the worst day we’d experienced as far as ‘down-time’ with the data center was concerned. As I’ve explained, the new teller machines had the capability to capture up to a dozen transactions that would post automatically when back on-line but on this day there were far more than that. No one was sure of how to handle the situation, including me, and, of all days not to be able to get to our contact people at the data center it was this one. The best way to describe the day was to say we were putting out ‘brush fires’ all day long. I was too busy to spend any time thinking about Jerry and his interviews. The one good thing was that the day was over quickly and by the time I left for home was satisfied the data processing problem was rectified. I could only pray the month of June would be better than May was.

When it came to the race car it was the same prayer. After a great start things had taken a decided turn downwards. On the way to the track there was muted optimism among the crew. When we fired up the rebuilt engine it seemed to run OK. Cliffy told us he’d let it run for over an hour and it ran cool and without a problem. However, racing would provide the real test. I crossed my fingers, arms and legs during the qualifying race just for luck. We had no trouble qualifying and when Cliffy pulled into our space in the pits he gave a thumbs up. I don’t remember what position we started in for the main event but it didn’t matter. It was only a few laps into the race when Cliffy coasted into the infield once again. We were all looking for steam to be coming from the radiator overflow tank but couldn’t see any. Then there was a serious wreck and while it was being sorted out one of the track wrecking trucks pushed Cliffy into the pit area. I could smell burning grease and a look at the back of the car told us it was the quick change rear end. By the time the race restarted we knew, for sure, the rear end was broken and unable to be repaired. Interested in the outcome of the feature race we all went up to the pit grandstand to observe. It was the first time that C J was competitive. I think he finished in the top five. After the finish I went over to his car looking not for him but his girlfriend, Karen. It didn’t take long to see what I’d come to see… her in white pants and sporting a nice VPL. I remember wishing there was a way to find out who made the panties she was wearing but knew, realistically, there was no way I'd ever find out.

By the time I got back to the race car the rest of the crew and their wives were ready to leave. Someone mentioned that we were not headed straight home but had been invited to “Pee Wee’s” house which was on our way. With the reputation Mrs. “Pee Wee” had I wondered why. Including wives there were ten of us. Their house was not much more than a cottage and they only lived there in the Summer. With the temperature cooling off we ended up inside and it got pretty crowded. Mrs. “Pee Wee” belied the talk I’d heard about her and cooked us up a nice pasta meal. Even though we’d eaten hot dogs and hamburgers only a few hours before it tasted pretty good. She topped it off with a homemade cake. The guys weren’t ready to leave when the ladies were. Pew Wee, well into the beer, was telling about some of his racing exploits. When we made our way out to the hauler with our bellies full of food and beer we were feeling much better than we had when we left the track.

I think I was the first to see it… a wooden crate sticking out of the rear window of the race car. I remember stopping and staring at it and not having any idea what was in it. It was Alan who walked up behind me an asked where the box had come from. I just shrugged my shoulders. Dick and Cliffy were next and before I knew it they’d jumped up on the back of the hauler and were looking at the labels on the box. Cliffy called down to us that it was a brand new quick change rear. Alan and I looked at each other and we couldn’t believe it, especially me. When Dick jumped back to the ground I asked him where it had come from. He was as serious as I could remember him being. He said it was from “Pee Wee”. I had to ask why and it was his turn to shrug his shoulders… but he did say that “Pee Wee” was a dealer for them.

We gathered together, ignoring the women, to figure out what we were going to do. A new rear end cost around $500 and we didn’t have it. We marched back to the kitchen door and knocked. When “Pee Wee” answered he just waved his hand at us and told us to get on home. Cliffy tried to protest and “Pee Wee” just shut the door. There was nothing we could do but head for home, scratching our heads as we climbed into the hauler. While on our way, Cliffy couldn’t even come up with an idea why he’d do such a thing. More importantly was the concern of how to pay for it. The consensus among the five of us who made up the ownership of the car was to try and come up with at least $250 for him by the next race. We still had about $300 set aside for another set of tires and if we only bought two we’d still have $150 of it. That left it up to the five of us to come up with the additional $100 by Saturday.

To be continued…